I am sharing all the knowledge I gathered during my research in four months of testing different business ideas. Before starting investing lots of time and building an MVP (minimum viable product) you can test ideas with adtotyping and get some metrics without writing a single line of code. This process shows a powerful way to validate ideas with the help of Facebook. What you will get from this article From prototyping → pretotyping → adtotyping Process for validating ideas step by step. Links on tools and learning resources. Experience — I am not a programmer and I don’t have experience working as a designer. All the tools that are shared in this article don’t require any special computer skills. I am not an English native speaker and I am not a content writer so many of you with basic computer skills should be better at adtotyping then me! This article is for tech or those who want to validate their ideas in the market. This validation process is most suited for B2C and in some cases for B2B ideas. entrepreneurs * — I believe in karma and that if you share something you will always be rewarded in many forms. If you find it interesting or have any questions regarding adtotyping method, let me know in the comments below. Disclaimer From prototyping → pretotyping → adtotyping There are several methods of validating the ideas and all of them could be used depending on what you are looking for and your approach. That’s how I came around adtotyping. It’s not a new concept and you can find some resources validating ideas with Facebook ads. I was involved as a founder and product owner in some startups with very different budgets (whole variety from big spenders to really budget ones). All were doing the same — building products that started with big hype and ended with a realization that nobody needs them. “Fail fast” is the main point I borrowed from ”. I think failing fast is the most important thing that can happen to you or your idea. the book “The right it You all heard some success stories of big startups trying to build something for 25 times before succeeding. I got inspired by the stories to change my life strategy and made a plan to test 56 ideas in one year — 1 idea a week. What could possibly go wrong? I forgot to mention that I had to complete this goal while having a full-time job, loving wife, daughter & cat. Now we have the first quarter of 2020 and I’ve already tested 14 ideas and plan to test 20 ideas in the next quarter which is almost 40% more than last quarter. I’ve understood that I will never achieve my goal with the approach of building MVPs (minimum viable product), websites and then validating ideas in the market. I was enlightened when my friend showed me the book the idea of pretotyping. With pretotyping, you make a website and content + paid plans or sign-up form to collect other results (YODA — your own data) with the skin in the game (it’s when you ask your users for some task to be done → email or prepayment). with Pretotyping is even used for building cars like Elon Musk with Tesla. I tried pretotyping with 5 ideas. After thinking of 5 domains → 5 web pages design + 5 content copies for web pages + 5 Facebook pages + 5 logos and so on… I was exhausted and understood that I will never achieve 56 ideas in a year on my own :) So I thought I have to go back to the process I was using for validating an idea. So I realized that in the end, you don’t need a website with a good design and content if you can’t make traction and drive traffic to your website with ads. So if nobody is interested in the first place you don’t need any of the other things either. Therefore I thought of the term adtotyping. It comes before everything and is based on collecting data if you can drive traffic from your ad → it’s better to have some backed data in your pocket before thinking of specific domain, web page copy and so on. Of course, you can fail at step 2 with the data in your pocket but still, it’s like shooting with the machine gun vs revolver. So set up one domain for all your ideas (thinking of a domain name like nextsun that is not attached to any sector or service like) then getting your Facebook page, a web page with sign up/subscribe form and you are ready to test all your ideas. So for every idea, you will have to answer some validation questions + creating a Facebook ad. Process I have gathered information from different sources that will be listed in the back of the article. What are the key questions to ask before starting validating? Define your idea in one sentence — if I can’t define my idea in one easily understandable sentence I skip the idea. What issues/problems are you solving? How will your product address these problems? Who is your customer? What types of industries do my potential customers work in? What is their job title? (optional) How does your product improve their lives? XYZ — At least X% of Y will do Z ,,, so define the goal that you want to achieve with an ad campaign. So let’s take an example: if the ad will drive 5% of all the audience that saw your ad to the web page we will proceed to step 2 of idea validation. Having a goal is crucial if you compare more than one idea. Start validating with Facebook ads. Why Facebook ads? Why not get feedback from colleagues, friends, family, experts or just random people. They all can be wrong and give you misleading information based on your relationships and other psychological aspects. Only the market can say what is needed. So I find the best and the cheapest way is to ask the market and that’s using Facebook ads. If you find a better cheaper way that works let me know! For the first time to validate your idea you will need : 1. Think of your idea/domain name (if you want to test more then one idea think about the name that doesn’t address directly any sector or type of idea) Find the right domain name → find similar domains Looka → I use it for finding synonyms and get ideas for words. Thesaurus For domain registration → (you get privacy and it’s cheaper than GoDaddy) https://www.namecheap.com/ https://www.godaddy.com/ 2. Create a website. I have tried lots of different providers for creating a website. I will list all of them (at the end of an article). It depends on which you are used to. If you will choose a free service check if it will have any integrations with the Facebook pixel, analytic and so on. All alternative tools listed at the end. For creating website, I use ( with the paid plan ) Wix — (it has a free trial, but doesn’t have any third-party integrations) 8b Create Site on Mobile or Desktop Don’t worry you won’t need lots of content you will need only the form for email and something like that. Some more ideas on the upcoming page. At first, I tried creating content for every idea. It took lots of time and energy and at this phase, you don’t need that. The main thing at this stage is to test if you even can drive traffic or in other words if somebody is interested in your idea. So we created a landing page. Of course, you will need to add a custom domain, depending on where you are building your website and the domain registrar you have chosen. 3. Facebook page If you want to run Facebook ads at first you will have to make a Facebook page. There are some recommendations after you create your Facebook page — to make a minimum of 5 posts and fill all the information about your business. So I will not go into details — I don’t post anything on the Facebook page and the reason is that I made one landing page and one Facebook page for all my testable ideas. It saves a lot of time, energy and money. Hot to create a Facebook page. So the main things that you will need for the Facebook page are Logo and Facebook cover design. You can use the logo on the web page, but at this stage, it’s not important (it depends on you how much you are in love with your idea) Block comments → Settings on your Page, Scroll down to Page Moderation, and then copy and paste words that you want to block (there are rude people out there and you don’t want this stuff showing up on your advertising…) For logo and Facebook cover design → it’s free if you choose free content. I love this tool. There are also some alternatives that I listed in the end. Canva 4. Create Facebook ad account 5. Create an ad So I have read lots of recommendations and also tried different things. I will list what works for me. Go to → create an ad ads manager I use a new campaign for every idea, and use a split test. The higher number of ad sets will let you check which ads are more successful in attracting traffic to your idea In most cases I create two Ads sets after the campaign ends I run a new one with the winner. All you have to do is test then test and finally test again. I always choose Lifetime budget over Daily, this way you do not burn “tons” of money and to have the same budget for all ideas → ads. Also to be sure that I won’t spend more than I want. I always use 10$ for the first round, some professionals say it’s not enough but I doubt their arguments. You can invest more if you want but my point is that I get results from the first try and I will relaunch the winner Ad one more time with a 10$ budget and will see how it will perform. I will opt to proceed further with ideas that have reached my XYZ goal. Audience I always test an idea in the United States → it’s a most competitive market so you will be sure that the data you gathered is real and in other markets, you will have higher conversion results. Of course, if you have a local idea and you live outside the US test ones there. Facebook tool help you find a potential audience based on interests, job descriptions, and other data. What is important that your audience would be broad. I advise a minimum of one million. audience insights Also, some Facebook pages can be added as interests, but only some and it’s only Facebook that knows why. After reading lots of pros and cons I am launching all ideas in manual placements and only on Facebook news feed. You should consider other options if you think that your idea is for Instagram users or have any specific needs also know that showing your ad everywhere you have to adapt ad-media to all platforms. Optimization and delivery Optimization for Ad Delivery → driving traffic to your landing page views. Create an ad So this is the most important part and the part that you will master after several created ads. Add media - Image or video is the most essential part making up to 80% of your ad’s success , the user has to stop scrolling to read your ad copy. Finding Good Images / Video Should Stand Out And Cause Emotion “If You Couldn’t Use Words, What Image Would You Choose?” Relevant To Audience & What You Are Offering (Alignment) Use Smiling Faces Looking at Camera You will choose 2 or more images/videos based on how many ads set you created. Tools for image/video → it’s free if you choose free content. Select the Facebook ad. (Alternative tools listed at the end) Canva It’s time for your ad copy. I use to get ideas of successful ad copies that others are using. If you can’t find what is suited for you then : Primary text - BigSpy Text formula Removal Of Pain Client Testimonial First Person Story Of Transformation Big Promise What is your value proposition in 3 words or what your ideas paint point cure? Headline — A slogan on your idea or what you will receive. Description — Connect your website to . Tracking - Facebook pixel So create other ad sets and you are ready to start your test. Measuring results and idea validation steps It’s up to you what XYZ you have chosen, I use CTR + CPC + Cost per landing page to understand if my idea interests the audience but it’s only the first step of validating idea lifecycle. Steps to the idea validation process. If your idea passes phase one, proceed to the next step. Adtotyping → measure if your idea ad copy can drive traffic to your website. Pretotyping → create a web page with content with skin in the game (prepaid payments, subscription form or other valuable data that you can get from the users). Drive traffic to your web page (Facebook ads or if you have alternatives channels) and measure conversion results. If you reach your XYZ goal proceed to the next step. There are different approaches to this point. If you are capable you can start building MVP, start raising funds, go lean and ask your users what they are looking for. So what is most important at this point is that you have your own data. Most startups use hypothetical data of user acquisition, potential user archetype and so on. If you reached step 3 you already gathered data that can be inserted in your business plan based on real numbers not hyphothetical. So start your ad validation journey and if you have improvements to this process let me know in the comments. Resources + tools All the tools and useful information that I gathered during this research, maybe you will find some of them useful. * all the tools that are mentioned are redirected threw for testing purpose of new idea generation and to understand how affiliate market is working. I have never earned any $ from affiliates marketing. Note: VigLink Learning material The Right It: Why So Many Ideas Fail and How to Make Sure Yours Succeed by ALBERTO SAVOIA The Right It — Video lessons by Alberto Savoia Startupschool.org The Lean Validation Playbook Matrix Growth Academy — Zero to 100 Facebook ads tools / content Adespresso Swiped Sniply y BigSp Create a website Ucraft Carrd Unbounce Launchrock Versoly Bricks Weblium Wix Mailchimp 8b Cantrip Ucoz Analytics SimilarWeb HotJar Brand24 Exploding Topics Leadfeeder Media — images/video/music Pexels Mixkit Filmora Adobe Spark Ripl Unminus Design Canva Picmonkey Pablo buffer Domain name Instantdomainsearch Godaddy Namecheap Looka Cunningbot Special thanks to my family also thanks to the brunch dream team (3V+G) & A.K. Previously published at https://medium.com/@vytautas_53656/do-you-know-how-to-fail-fast-with-your-next-idea-7b27f2a2138d

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The rise and eventual dominance of mobile applications in the current business arena is a telling sign of how user experience has become the biggest brand differentiator. Not only do users want everything at the tip of their fingers, they want the entire experience to be modelled around their preferences. There is no room for app design mistakes that hurt your conversion. In 2018 alone, revenue from mobile applications . That number is expected to more than double – to reach $935 billion by 2023. surpassed the $360 billion mark While this is comforting for developers and businesses looking to launch applications, it does not reveal the full story. Although the amount of time spent on mobile apps is rising, new applications face an uphill struggle in achieving popularity. In fact, is dedicated to the top three most used applications for every user. A variety of app design mistakes, such as the app being output-driven in approach, contribute to the inability of applications to succeed with audiences. 77% of the entire app usage time Why should you design an outcome driven application? Creating an application that captures your audience takes more than just having a platform. It requires a deep understanding of unmet user needs and an unwavering focus on how the user will use the app. However, as the Harvard Business Review notes, development teams continue to (type of features or number of screens). The result is app design mistakes that result from losing focus on what companies are looking to achieve, leading them to dedicate all of the available resources in creating outputs instead of outcomes. focus too much on outputs Examples of outputs From the development manager to product backlogs, everything revolves around feature ideas. Ideally, they should align with the wanted outcome. But in reality this is just one of those theoretical concepts that is not practiced. Common examples of outcomes include the number of features or the number of screens required. A look at the daily routine of a typical application development team reveals that even daily tasks center around “what feature are we going to work on today?” As a classic app design mistake, such a narrow approach makes it increasingly difficult to keep your focus on what functionality users require and the outcomes they need. Vendors only know how to estimate based on their time The current application development landscape is led by an output-focused approach – engulfing everyone from product teams to vendors. When vendors approach businesses, their question should be: “what user problem are you looking to solve?” not “What features do you want?” Photo by Sebastian Herrmann on Unsplash After all, plenty of (features in smartphones) or how these features benefit their businesses or drive business outcomes. businesses don’t understand  geofencing, gyroscopes or accelerometers Instead, they ask about the required number of features and screens. Based on the number of hours it takes to develop a feature (or screen) and their specific rates, they calculate the level of effort they are putting in the development process. Since the entire development is planned according to the level of the output, the application is also designed in that way. This app design mistake allows the creation of a feature-laden application that stills falls short of user expectations – because the users were not considered in the application design process. The same can be said for product managers. They communicate with their team based on features, which, again, takes away the emphasis on user experience and makes it more about the “aesthetics” of the application. In essence, these features do more harm than good by taking away the simplicity and intuitiveness of an outcome-centric application. From the estimates to the creation, everything is linked to the features and screens of the application. The question remains: who will think about the consumer? Unless the impact of your application design on your business is realized and adequately implemented, app design mistakes will continue to hinder your application’s potential. The solution: outcome-driven application design Outcome-driven application design stems from an . It is a simple – yet effective – approach that places desired user outcomes at the top of every conversation. outcome-driven innovation mindset Your target audience is not looking for your application. What they are looking for are outcomes, and they are likely to use your application as a means to reach those desired outcomes. The conventional way of starting from feature ideas (output) does not guarantee the provision of a successful service – rather it is one of the preliminary app design mistakes. Instead, by making user expectations (outcome) the core of your design approach, you are already attempting to solve a problem faced by the user. What is included in an outcome-driven approach? Everything that can enhance the user experience. Here are some examples of how to go about shifting your focus from outputs to outcomes. Reduced time on task Different features on your applications serve different tasks. The design of your application should be intuitive and navigation-friendly enough to enable users to complete their desired objectives. Common app design mistakes can increase time on task, which defeats the purpose of an outcome-driven app – which is to allow users to do what they want to, as seamlessly as possible. Eliminating user errors User errors cannot always be bundled with other app design mistakes, but understanding user-desired outcomes inevitably reduces the probability of such errors. By analyzing where users commit most errors, app developers can further optimize their design to ensure the number of such errors remains low. Increased efficiency Increasing efficiency is a staple business objective, and an outcome-driven application helps you achieve efficiency by allowing you to serve customers more efficiently. For example, we designed an application for a medical device company where a device was fitted to each patient. The company operated in a heavily regulated niche and had to account for excessive regulatory compliance. The documentation for the procedure typically consumed anywhere between one to three days. When the entire process was converted into an app with multiple steps (outcome based), the to a mere 20 minutes. process time dropped by more than 200% This increased efficiency opened up new horizons for the medical company, as it could treat plenty more patients in a single day than waiting three days to get past one patient. This is just one example of how an outcome-driven app provides value to your business, as well as your audience. Conclusion Common app design mistakes, such as having an output-driven approach, has an adverse impact on your business. In such a hyper-competitive business landscape, not optimizing for user outcomes can be the reason behind an unsuccessful app. Place great emphasis on designing applications that are outcome-centric and avoid app design mistakes that hinder adoption and retention. In addition to building consensus with all stakeholders, a good B2B app works well on the platform it is intended for while meeting the product manager’s goals for a variety of metrics. Previously published at https://designial.com/blogs/the-mistake-of-designing-an-app-that-is-output-driven-not-outcome-driven

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The Mistake of Designing an App that is Output Driven, Not Outcome Driven

Why something so simple keeps bothering us? No matters your religion, IMAP4 or HTTP, you should not worry about accessing easily header and associated attributes, adjectives or values. But even with modern language like Python we still have those : charset = headers[ ].split( )[ ].split( )[ ] 'Content-Type' ';' -1 '=' -1 I have seen so much chunk of code like this, trying to deal with them, often in a risky way to take care of a more important part of the code. In the face of that I say no more! Do not forget that headers are not OneToOne. One header can be repeated multiple times and attributes can have multiple values within the same header. So representing them by using a is not a good idea even if using case insensible dict ! dict() charset = headers.content_type.charset # better now ? Project Kiss-Headers Kiss-Headers is a library that allows you to handle with great care headers. That is why I created a project that would remove the pain of dealing with them no matter where they came from. It was clear that they were something missing in the python community. From the project to , each one has its implementation, each one is also incomplete. The best so far I have seen is the one from project. psf/requests tornado httpx Mine is not perfect but has its amount of sweetness. Beginning from auto-completion capability in python interpreter or your beloved IDE. It should dramatically reduce stress and pain when encountering them. Features A backward compatible syntax using bracket style. Capable to alter headers using simple operator notation + and - like a human would do. It does not care if headers are from IMAP4 or HTTP, do as you need with one library. Ability to parse any object and extract from it recognized headers. Fully type annotated. Provide great auto-completion in python interpreter or any capable IDE. 90% test coverage. Plus all the features that you would expect from handling headers... Properties syntax for headers and attributes in header. Support headers and attributes OneToOne and OneToMany. Capable of parsing bytes, fp, str, dict and requests.Response. Automatically unquote the value of an attribute when retrieving it. Case insensible on header name and attribute key. Character - equal _ in addition to the above feature. Any syntax you like. We like. Imagine being capable of doing those things : Repository : https://github.com/Ousret/kiss-headers Endnote I am pretty confident that those kinds of libraries that serve reducing time spent on the little things would actually help make the life of a programmer easier. And spent a lot more time on something else. So, do not hesitate, when you are encountering a case that respects those criteria : (i) repeatably reinventing the wheel (ii) everyone is facing this issue at least once. (iii) break the loop by contributing. Thank you :)

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HTTP or IMAP: How To Prevent Headers From Getting Complicated

I think many web developers and server administrators had been facing the 301 redirection cache. I had facing it very often until I learn the lesson… I hope it helps you and you learn something from me, not from your mistakes 💥 👉 For example, when you configure the SSL certificate and make the 301 redirection from HTTP to HTTPS, but something goes wrong, you don’t have the ability to enter the HTTP version again. Browser caches the 301 redirection and redirects you to HTTPS. 👉 The second example is when you changing the website domain. If you redirect from the old domain to the new domain with the 301 redirection, browser caches it too, and prevent’s you to enter the old domain. 👌 How to avoid that? Use the 302 redirection as long as everything works as it should. Then, and ONLY then, change the 302 redirection 301. Why? ❓ 📚 The definition of 301 and 302 redirections: — means that the resource (page) is moved permanently to a new location. The client/browser should not attempt to request the original location but use the new location from now on. 301 — means that the resource is temporarily located somewhere else, and the client/browser should continue requesting the original URL. 302 The 301 is a permanent redirection. Even if you remove the redirection from the server, your browser continuously redirects the resources to the new domain or HTTPS, because of the hard cache. So the 302 is not hard cached by the browser and you have the ability to access the old version if you remove the redirection from your server (website). 💀 How really dangerous is the 301 in production? It is very simple. If something goes wrong and you release the 301 redirection to the production, your client’s browsers permanently cache this redirection and you will have to tell all the clients to clear the browser cache. This is a 💩 🤔 Okay, what I can do if my browser caches the 301 redirection? Every website developer know the Chrome Developer tools (F12) and a Right-Click on the Refresh button 😟 But I can tell you that is not enough. Suppose you badly redirected the old domain to the new domain with the 301 redirection and you want to clear the domain cache. You must do it on the old domain because the old domain is redirecting. But you can’t access it… The only thing to do is to clear the whole browser cache and even cookies, but no one wants to do it. 😎 There is a trick on how you can access the old domain (or any redirecting URL). Before going to the website open the Chrome Developer tools (F12). Go to Network tab Check the checkbox Preserve log Clear the log 🚀 Now enter your old domain URL and navigate to it. Of course, it will be redirected to the new domain. But in your Network log, you will have the old domain redirection request and you will have the ability to clear the domain cache by clicking the request with Right-Click and select the Clear browser cache. After that, your 301 redirection will be removed. But please remember that you must remove the redirection from your server before. In the screenshot above I redirecting the non-www to the www domain. ❤️ Thanks for reading this. I hope it was helpful to you. Feedback and questions are appreciated. 🙏 Follow on , , and let’s connect on Twitter GitHub LinkedIn Previously published at https://dev.to/epranka/clear-the-301-302-redirection-cache-chrome-4dio

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Expert tips to create a highly functional chatbot. How To Make A Great Chatbot From Scratch These days, companies find it very hard to enhance their customer experience, thus, they want to know how to make a chatbot. And, they invest almost all to develop the best chatbot for their business benefits. Here, we will extend you the necessary information and resources to create a chatbot. Moreover, you will also know how to improve your chatbot after reading this blog. What is a chatbot? Chatbots are Artificial Intelligence-powered systems used to interact with human beings by means of a text or voice interface with the purpose to answer their questions. Such interactions can be simple, for example: asking a chatbot about the weather report, or there could be something complex, like asking a chatbot to troubleshoot a problem with the Internet service. How to build a chatbot The steps given below will help you out in the chatbot development: 1. Know the opportunities for an AI-powered chatbot All of first, make yourself aware of the opportunities for an AI-powered chatbot. Companies always think of utilizing new Bot technologies in their business, so they need a way of thinking about which types of work can be augmented or automated by . AI solutions Artificial Intelligence solutions can be given attention as per the two criteria: Data and work complexity for a specific type of work activity. The dual analysis of data and work complexity brings about four types of activity models: innovation, expert, efficiency, and effectiveness. 2. Knowing your customers’ goals First, you must know exactly why you want to get a chatbot developed, and what the chatbot is expected to do. Having a clear idea of this will be helpful for the designer to create conversations targeted at fulfilling the goals. If the designer knows the purpose of chatbot development, it will be much easier for them to design the conversation with the chatbot. 3. Chatbot conversation designing Interactions of chatbot are split into structured and unstructured interactions. The structured conversation is more about the logical flow of information. It includes choices, menus, and forms into account. On the other hand, the unstructured conversation flow has freestyle plain text. The conversation with workmates, family members, friends, and other known people are categorized in this segment. Creating scripts for these messages need to follow suit. On the contrary, developing the scripts for messages, it must be kept in mind that the conversation topics must be close to the purpose fulfilled by the chatbot. It’s important for the designer to interpret the answer of the users to create scripts for a conversational user interface. Designers also pay attention to close-ended conversations much easier to handle and loose conversations which make possible for customers to have conversations naturally. 4. Picking the appropriate chatbot platform Although there is easy availability of the most powerful platforms to build a chatbot. All platforms have their own advantages and disadvantages and specific purposes. To facilitate your selection, we have provided you a list of the best platform to : develop a chatbot This platform utilizes a drag and drop template to develop bots i.e to make a chatbot. Some famous features like simple integrations through , plugins, machine learning and analytics integration are available too. 1. Botsify : Smart AI Chatfuel offers features like adding content cards and sharing updates with your followers automatically, collecting information in Messenger chats with forms, and allowing users to request information and interact with your chatbot with buttons. 2. Chatfuel : Beep Boop is known for providing an end-to-end developer experience that makes it possible for users to pay attention to developing great chatbots. 3. Beep Boop : This platform is considered as the best way of developing slack bots though it contains some complex and technical features as well which makes it a best platform in true terms. For this, I will suggest you should take help of a . good machine learning app developer Flow XO turns out to be the only chatbot platform to offer more than 100 integrations. It is famous for its easy-to-use visual editor. The platform also offers numerous pre-built templates for a quick beginning. 4. Flox XO : This platform boasts of visually building, training, and deploying chatbots on Slack, FB Messenger, Smooch, or your website. 5. Motion AI : It will make possible for you to diagram your conversation flow like a flowchart to have a visual overview of the outcomes of the query of the bot. This platform extends you an option to embed your bot on your website. It will also be possible for you to add data from a Medium, Wikipedia site, or Wordpress for better data coverage. This is an easy to use tool to make a chatbot 6. Bottr : Microsoft has developed QnA bot in which you need to share the URL of your FAQ page and the bot will be developed in a short while (some minutes) as per the information on the FAQ page and structured data. 7. QnA Maker : It has predefined chatbots ripe for starting-off. The website has templates for customer support, e-commerce, and food business. 8. Chattypeople : If you pick an e-commerce chatbot, then you just need to add Q&A, Products, and some general settings. This platform has many useful tools including boilerplate app starter kits, Botkit Studio, a core library, and plugins for the extension of your bot capabilities. 9. Botkit : This platform can allow you to train, develop, and run your bot. Developing and managing your conversation logic with Bot Builder and visual flow interface assists you in setting up responses as quick as a flash. 10. Recast.AI | Collaborative Bot Platform : The platform has pre-built features which make it simple for you to add messages, content, filling out forms, discussions, showcasing merchandise, and the like to your bot. 11. Octane.ai : Chatter can assist you in building the bot flow and setting up the AI by entering a few examples of the expected conversation between the bot and users. 12. ChatterOn : This platform’s innovative smart-messages has structured data and intelligence that is not in plain-text messages which is an out of the box feature to make a chatbot. Accordingly, it makes possible advanced messaging workflows and automation. 13. Gupshup : This platform is integrated with multiple platforms. It includes Request & Conversation Tracking, complete User, and it has its own NLP parsing engine. 14. Converso.ai : Summary Due to innumerable chatbot benefits, chatbots are regarded as the future. And, every business is seeking how to create a chatbot to enhance their customers’ experience. Here, we also mentioned the and enlisted etc. listed above. best platforms to make a chatbot 14 chatbot development platforms including Botsify, Chatfuel, Beep Boop, Flox XO Final Words: If you want to take your business to the next level, then you need to get a chatbot developed. And, to do so, you must who can build smart chatbots in order to perform complex tasks in simple ways. Afterall, chatbots are meant to make our lives easier. hire chatbot developers

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An article that I read recently stated that struggle to turn data into decisions. This got me thinking about my own experience with product analytics. 41% of businesses Over the last two decades, the Web has transitioned from being a space for the hobbyists to one where billion dollar businesses are made. This transition of Web made way to another kind of transition. What used to be Web Analytics, evolved into what we now know as Product Analytics. In their glossary, defines as: Optimizely Web Analytics “Web analytics is the measurement and analysis of data to inform an understanding of user behavior across web pages.” , on the other hand, is a combination of quantitative and qualitative insights that inform product decisions. For these purposes, you may find yourself looking at different kinds of data, ex: Product Analytics user interactions with the website and apps, behaviour patterns such as retention and churn, purchases and cancellations ser feedback u and Net Promoter Score (NPS) In my product journey as a PM for and (one Europe’s largest online travel portal), these are the that I have observed when it comes to Product Analytics — Vistara (Tata Singapore Airlines JV) FlixBus 4 common mistakes ( and solutions) 1. Blind trust in the tool is dangerous First things first — having the best tools at your disposal means nothing, if: You have no idea why, where and how the data is being collected; You don’t use the tool to actually deep dive into the data to gather insights; You never question the correctness of the data you see; You are sure of the correctness of the data but not what it says about your product. In the end, any analytics tool is only as good as the the people using it. To move into the direction of product analytics, once you have set-up the tool(s), ensure you have done data sanity checks, and actually start using the tool but with a curious and a critical mind-set. 2. Not defining success early on One of the first lessons I learnt very early on is to clearly define what success looks like for your product. It is possible that your ideal success metric is not the same as the organization’s success metric. As long as your success metric feeds into the overall organization’s success metric, you are doing fine. Say you are a product manager responsible for the Search Listing page in an eCommerce organization in fashion domain. A true success metric for your organization could be conversion rate and average order value. However, your success metrics could be Progression rate to the next step and basket size. While selecting a success metric, I follow - these 3 steps Identify an actionable core metric for the product that feeds into the organization’s goals. Choose a supplementary metric, ex: Avg basket size along with progression rate Apply the “So What Test” 3. Missing Issue Trees/ hypothesis driven analytics We all know that gathering insights about product usage is important for product development. Then why do most of us give up on digging them out? After having spoken to many of my peers, I have narrowed it down to 1 thing: Data can be overwhelming. However, the problem often is not the amount of data or shortage of time at hand. It usually is the lack of a hypothesis driven approach, or a preference for, what I call, diving-in-head-first approach. Let’s say your daily email dashboard shows a 5% dip in Day over day conversion rate (CVR). What do you do? If your first instinct is to open your favourite analytics tool — Stop! Take a breath. Grab a pen and paper and try to answer — What is the impact on Y if X changes. Y being CVR in this case, and X could be any number of factors that you think could impact CVR. Once the list of factors is in place, start plotting an issue tree. This might seem like a lot of work the first time, but trust me, you already know the factors by heart. By following this approach, you will be able to narrow down the exact problem that could be causing the dip in CVR and you won’t have to dig into 500 different reports to find clues to this not so big mystery. 4. Not combining qualitative with quantitative I found my biggest learning in the realm of Product analytics from . In season 1, episode 12, Raymond Tusk says - House of Cards “Decisions based on emotions aren’t decisions at all. They’re instincts, … which can be of value. The rational and the irrational complement each other. Individually they’re far less powerful.” By bringing together, you can triangulate the solution and have greater confidence and richer insights for product development. quantitative and qualitative One way to combine the two approaches is to use Qualitative methods like user research to formulate hypothesis that you can validate by using quantitative approaches like A/B testing. By combining the forces of Quantitative and Qualitative methodologies, you can answer the WHY with an evidence-based decision making approach rather than only answering the WHAT by sticking with data-based decision making. TL;DR We all appreciate good product instincts in our fellow Product managers, but I can’t agree with Alistair Croll more when says in his book , Lean Analytics “Instincts are experiments. Data is proof.” And in the end, as my dear friend once put it, "if you’ve never enjoyed a detective story, if you’ve never spent hours in front of a data anomaly and felt a rush of “guilty excitement” trying to solve a problem, consider doing something else, something that gives you pleasure". Further Reading - https://hbr.org/2012/09/metrics-are-easy-insights-are-hard https://www.computerworld.com/article/2984988/all-your-big-data-will-mean-nothing-without-systems-of-insight.html https://spotify.design/articles/2018-12-05/cross-disciplinary-insights-teams-integrating-data-scientists-and-user-researchers-at-spotify/ Previously published at https://medium.com/@pallavimodi/4-ways-you-are-probably-doing-product-analytics-wrong-58a952af87c7

4 Ways You Are Probably Doing Product Analytics Wrong

San Francisco’s housing crisis perpetuates the poverty trap faced by low income minorities in the city. It is no news that the rent in San Francisco is among the . High paying jobs lure talent to a city that is available space. Not only is this high rent a source of stress for the new migrants, but it also has serious implications for low income minorities. highest in the world fast outgrowing A new paper shows that a rise in rents in the Bay Area has to the outer edges of the region. This is important because the areas that these minorities move to have fewer high quality schools, grocery stores and other resources. pushed minority families Minorities in America compared to the result of the population so the displacement caused by the housing crisis in San Francisco is contributing further to the inequality. This paper extends the findings in the study to 2017 and postulates that the displacement and resulting inequality has only deepened over time. face a lower quality of life Data This study uses data by the US Census Bureau for San Francisco County in the years 2015 and 2017. The variables used are median rent, household income, percent of population under poverty line ages 18 years to 65 years that are African American Alone, Asian Alone and total population. American Community Survey (ACS) San Francisco County In 2018, had a population of 883,305 (0.12% decline from 2017), median household income of $112,376 (1.41% increase from 2017) and median property value of $1.2M (8.3% growth). San Francisco County Furthermore, as shown in Figure 1, the proportion of people living under the poverty line in San Francisco has decreased since 2015. This does not necessarily mean that people have become wealthier but it does hint at the displacement of people living under the poverty line. Results The statistics in the previous section imply that the property value is increasing at a faster rate than income – San Francisco County residents are increasingly paying a higher proportion of their income on rent. This conclusion is supported by Figure 2 and Figure 3. Figure 2 shows the total percent of adult population under 65 has been decreasing across the County while proportion of income spent on rent has been increasing between 2015 and 2017. This supports the general claim that rent prices are than people’s propensity to spend. rising faster To understand how this affects minority populations in poverty, Figure 3 focuses on the area in and around Chinatown with historically the highest Asian population in the city. However, the Asian population in poverty in this area . This is evident in Figure 3 which shows that rent in the area has increased and the proportion of people living in poverty has also markedly decreased. has been displaced Moreover, the blocks where rent has increased also see increased poverty levels which could be a harbinger of future displacement. There are also some blocks where the percentage of people living under poverty has decreased even when the rent to income ratio group has stayed the same. This could possibly mean that displacements continue even if house rents have not drastically increased. Policy, policy, policy? San Francisco County housing policy is the biggest challenge to overcome when looking at to the housing crisis.  The current policy limits the amount of new housing that can be built which is a huge roadblock to increasing housing supply. also incentivizes home owners to remain in their homes as long as possible to oppose new housing construction. Instead, policy should be created to allow and expedite new developments. solutions Proposition 13

Displacement of Low-Income Minorities in San Francisco

Quantum computers are advancing faster than ever, but what are the challenges we still need to overcome? The calls for an increase in annual spending on quantum computing (QC) to reach $860 million within two years. The announcement came just a few days after India declared that they'll be investing more than a billion dollars in QC and follows similar investments by Russia, the EU and many tech giants. new White House budget The massive investments and interest in QC are well deserved. Quantum computers hold great promise for unprecedented computational power well beyond the reach of current, non-quantum technology and will be able to help solve currently unsolvable challenges in important fields including materials science, computational chemistry, optimization, AI, and cryptography. Moreover, as the technology continues to rapidly develop as it has over the last couple of decades, the once far away dream of harnessing this power seems closer now than ever. However, despite significant progress, building quantum computers powerful enough to solve real-world problems remains one of the most difficult tasks in today’s technology frontier. However, what makes it so difficult to build a reliable and scalable quantum computer and what are the key challenges we need to overcome to make it a reality? This is what we will try to answer in this article. To do that, we must first establish how quantum computers are different than classical computers, and then examine how these differences give rise both to the extra power of quantum computers as well as to the challenges ahead. Today’s Computers To understand the power of quantum computers, we must first understand regular, non-quantum computers, also commonly called classical computers. A classical computer stores information in bits. Each bit in the computer is like a coin sitting on a table - it is in one of two binary states: heads or tails (more commonly the two states of a bit are called “0” and “1” rather than heads or tails). Since there are many bits in the computer, it can store A LOT of information. For example, with only 3 bits we can create an alphabet with 8 letters: ‘a’=000 (all bits are zero, or all coins are heads), ‘b’=001, ‘c’=010, ‘d’=011, etc., so that with 300 bits, we can write a text with 100 characters from this alphabet. In 1GB (gigabyte) of computer memory, there are about 8 billion bits, so you could therefore write a library of thousands of books with such a huge number of bits. computer is much more than just a big storage device for information. What is really unique about computers is their ability to process this information. This is done in the heart of the computer - the processor. If we continue with our coin analogy, you can think of the processor as a super fast coin-flipping machine which flips bits according to particular programs that we feed it. For example, when you are reading an article on your browser, a program is running on your computer in which the processor receives bits of information sent from your mouse and flips the bits that encode the image on your screen accordingly. All programs are eventually made of a sequence of very small and basic coin-flipping operations, called gates. The computer’s processing power is measured in how many such gate operations it can perform in one second. A single core 3GHz processor can perform billions of gates every second. But there is one thing that can destroy the computer’s operation - errors. Imagine that wind is blowing on the table full of coins and flips one of the coins. If a bit flips during the run time of a computer program, it can cause the program to give the wrong results, get stuck, or even lead to the dreaded blue screen. Fortunately, this does not happen very often. John Martinis, head of Google’s QC development, gave a great analogy that explains why the errors in classical computers are rare (and why those in quantum computers are frequent, as we will see below). In this analogy, bits in a classical computer are similar to heavy coins – it is very difficult for random environmental changes (like the wind or like electrical noise in the power supply of the computer) to flip them over. The average bit in a modern computer would work for about a billion years before it accidentally flipped. Quantum Computers Quantum computers replace the bits and gates with quantum bits and quantum gates. While a regular bit can be either ‘0’ or ‘1’ at any given point in time, a quantum bit, also called a , can be in BOTH ‘0’ and ‘1’ at the same time. In fact, it can be in any combination of ‘0’ and ‘1’. (This phenomena is called superposition.) A good way to think about it is that instead of a coin sitting on a table, we are now dealing with a coin floating in outer space where there is no gravity to fix it to the table. It does not have to be heads or tails anymore, but instead can be exactly on its side, or tilted at 45 degrees angle, etc. And it gets even crazier. If we have three qubits and we, again, use our 8 letters alpha-bet (‘a’=000, ‘b’=001, etc.), then the three qubits can take the form of ALL 8 letters at the same time! And the more qubits we add, the more powerful this parallelism is - it grows exponentially with the number of qubits in the quantum computer. qubit Now, just like with classical computers, the story does not end at storing data. Quantum computers use quantum gates to process the quantum information stored in qubits. A quantum program, or quantum algorithm is a sequence of quantum gates designed to solve a certain problem. And due to the massive parallelism of the quantum information stored in qubits, quantum computers can, in some situations, do “exponential multi-tasking” and very quickly solve difficult problems that even the strongest super computers of today can never solve. For example, in 1994 Peter Shor developed a quantum algorithm that can solve for the prime factors of a very large number in a very short amount of time. Since most internet security today relies on the base assumption that our computers, no matter how fast they can process, cannot solve this problem in a reasonable time to cause security concerns (it would take the biggest computer in the world billion years to decrypt a simple message let alone advanced security), Shor’s algorithm demonstrated just how disruptive quantum computers could be when they become operational. Shor essentially proved that a large scale Quantum Computer could decrypt today’s security protocols in minutes or hours. Although able to perform functions that traditional computers cannot, QCs are not without their challenges. Going back to Martinis’ analogy, while classical bits are akin to heavy coins and are stabilized by gravity to the table, qubits are floating in outer space and can be affected by almost anything. Any small disturbance can rotate the qubit and even a small one degree rotation can cause errors in the computation. And while there are many challenges in scaling up quantum computers, the high error rate, which stems from this sensitivity of qubits to their environment, is by far the greatest. Fighting Errors To move quantum computers forward to the point where they start living up to expectation, their propensity for errors must be overcome. Here are four important strategies that can be used to accomplish this. : First, better qubits that are less sensitive to noise must  be designed. From the structure of the qubits, through the materials that they are made from and their purity, to the fabrication processes that are used to produce them, everything affects the sensitivity of the qubits and clever design can really help. For example, in superconducting qubits (one of the most promising types of qubits) there has been a continuous and very dramatic improvement in the qubits’ sensitivity over the last couple of decades. Qubits must continue to improve in order to allow for efficient scaling up of quantum computers Better Qubits : Another important strategy, which proved itself very effective, besides improving the qubits themselves, is to focus on the environment in which the qubits are set. Designing a better environment for the qubits in order to isolate them from the relevant noise that disturbs them will allow the dramatic improvement of quantum computers to continue Better Environments : The way gates are performed on the qubits actually introduces a lot of noise and causes further errors. This can be improved significantly using super clever control methods such as optimal and robust control, a hot topic which is being developed by some of the leading commercial players today Better gates : The ultimate way of fighting errors is to perform what is called Quantum Error Correction (QEC). It was actually the development of QEC in the late 90s that gave the QC community the hope of actually scaling up quantum computers one day. In quantum error correction, one takes a bunch of physical qubits and together they can behave as a single qubit, which is called a logical qubit. There are then protocols that allow for detecting and correcting errors in this logical qubit during the run-time of a quantum program itself. Quantum Error Correction QEC is considered the ultimate way of dealing with errors, because it can be proven that once the basic error rate of the physical qubits (i.e. the qubits that make up the logical qubit) is low enough, then using enough physical qubits in the logical qubit allows us to reduce the error rate of the logical qubit as much as we want. And in fact, the current error rate of physical qubits is already low enough to start doing QEC. However, for this QEC to really be effective, one would need thousands of qubits for each logical qubit, which is impractical due to the large overhead as well as other limiting bottlenecks that exist today. Thus, it is essential that in the next several years, the other three error fighting strategies continue to reduce the error rates of physical qubits, so that the overhead of QEC can be reduced to the point where error correction — and thus useful quantum computing — can become a reality. A bout the author The CTO and Co-Founder of , Israeli native Dr. Yonatan Cohen has had two great passions in his life; quantum computing and entrepreneurship. Before he received his PhD studying Quantum Computing Fragility at the Weizmann Institute of Science, Yonatan co-founded and led the Weizmann Institute of Science Entrepreneurship. Quantum Machines

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How Quantum Computers Will Evolve

The panic caused by the coronavirus is currently the main topic for discussion throughout the world, and the crypto-community is no exception. What can we expect from the digital currency market in the context of recent events? My thoughts have not changed much over the past year. The crisis was expected. Market recession in the US was predicted back in 2018, and in 2019 the trend was confirmed. The pandemic and its ensuing panic will likely trigger recession everywhere. The recent collapse of the oil market has only added to the hysteria. However, where some view a crisis as only a crushing loss, others identify significant opportunity. For the cryptocurrency market, any recession in the classical financial market is beneficial, since there are very few traditional assets in the world that will not fall in price during economic instability. Gold is considered one of these few assets. But, since the advent of the new class of assets known as cryptocurrencies, it is bitcoin that is increasingly quoted as a means of maintaining value. But, with its short history, the first cryptocurrency is yet to encounter world market collapses, making it difficult therefore to predict its behaviour in such conditions. Market falls have already occured, are happening now and will happen in the future On March 13, the price of bitcoin fell below $4,000, featuring a ten-month low. But such a fall cannot be called dramatic, since more dynamic dumps have already happened in its history, including the . Therefore, it is too early to draw conclusions about the long-term prospects of its price. loss of more than 60% of the daily value During the crypto-winter, we saw how the price of bitcoin fell to $3,000, and, more recently, we witnessed it overcome the psychological border of $10,000 for 1 BTC. This has demonstrated to many wealthy people that cryptocurrencies can be used as a profitable economic asset. Further, even if the price of bitcoin collapses again, sooner or later it will return to the one at which the asset was bought. Such high volatility also provides the opportunity to double, or even triple, the initial capital invested, if the time to enter the market was chosen correctly. Because of this, even ardent supporters of fiat and other traditional assets have diversified their portfolios, making bitcoin one of the most powerful tools for protecting investments against risks. It is no secret that the negative correlation of bitcoin with the S&P 500 index and price fluctuations made BTC one of the most important hedging tools. In addition, back in August 2019, the TradeBlock research firm announced that bitcoin brought more stable risk-adjusted returns than both gold or the S&P 500 index. So, from August 13, 2018 to August 9, 2019, bitcoin had a Sortino coefficient of 1.97, while this indicator for gold was 1.06, and 0.25 for the S&P 500. Lack of regulation reinforces fear The conflict between the US and China, in my opinion, had no effect on the value of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. When the ceasefire comes, this will likewise not affect price. The price is affected by the penetration of cryptocurrencies into the lives of the masses and, I will not tire of repeating — their regulation. Investors remain afraid of losing their assets in most countries due to cryptocurrencies lacking a clear legal status. For this reason, they also cannot defend their interests in court if something untoward occurs. In Russia, it is still not clear what kind of future awaits the cryptocurrency industry. Fear, confusion and vacillation persist amongst those deciding the future of the cryptocurrency market there. The situation is similar in many other countries, which negatively affects the reputation of the whole industry, inhibiting potential users from buying digital assets, which is reasonable. Thus, the situation with coronavirus infection is not a decisive factor determining market growth in crypto assets. A change in leadership I am confident that the widespread adoption and regulation of cryptocurrencies, rather than their prohibition, is only a matter of time. In addition, I believe regulation will arise to protect investors who participate in ICOs, AIOs and STOs. As for exchanges and the cryptocurrency trading market, I continue to expect a “big purge”, where manipulators and dishonest players who work illegally will be punished. More and more exchanges will be closed due to their providing unreliable, low-quality or simply outdated services. In 2020-2021, we await a change in the leaders of the cryptocurrency market, along with the appearance of technologically more secure and advanced platforms. I am sure that the cryptocurrency market is still in its beginning stage. All those working in it are the real pioneers, and we shall be the ones to pluck the most delicious cherry from its top.

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How The Crisis Will Affect Financial And Cryptocurrency Markets

We’re all living in this strange new reality right now and adjusting our schedules, our jobs, and our very livelihoods. And while things will certainly go back to normal soon, for now, well, now’s a great time to review how this new economy affects the blockchain industry, and what changes will come once the pandemic is resolved. The few prerequisites that make this current situation a great testing ground for all blockchain products: Isolation: the situation where you need a trustless system like blockchain for all types of communications. Financial crisis: the perfect time to test stablecoins for stability. Infection: Paper documents, money, and couriers can’t be used in situations where viruses can live on surfaces for days on end. People tend to change their behavior slowly - but the pandemic can serve as a catalyst to start using new products, which is why I’ve asked blockchain founders how they view the current situation and what they think will come after pandemic. But first let’s look if there are any market signs indicative of the fact that these new blockchain-based products are increasing in popularity. Blockchain in logistics and supply-chain management: This industry depends largely on communication and document exchange. analysis from Gartner that was made at the beginning of Feb 2020. It’s good reading if you want to find both the short and long-term plans of all parts of the supply-chain market. Here’s a good The put unprecedented strain on the global supply chain of every product, but critical medical supplies are the most heavily impacted. COVID-19 crisis has But luckily, several products are on the rise now in this field: Alipay’s Xiang Hu Bao Online Mutual Aid Platform (One of the newest functions is to process coronavirus claims, helping the firm to reduce paperwork and the need for back-and-forth document delivery to clinics). Alipay, along with the Zhejiang Provincial Health Commission and the Economy and Information Technology Department, has launched a blockchain-based platform that enables users to trace the demand and supply chain of medical supplies. This includes the recording and tracking of epidemic prevention materials, such as masks, gloves, and other protective gear. The shortage of facial masks has been one of the biggest challenges in China so far, with the National Development and Reform Commission (China’s top economic planning commission) being tasked with managing the very limited supply. According to the NDRC, daily production is around , with demand estimated to be anywhere between 50 and 60 million units.  (Based on: ) 15.2 million masks per day cointelegraph.com Blockchain for cross-border payments. When the world is locked down and different regions need support,  for sending donations and payments becomes critical. But this is precisely where blockchain shines above all else. In a bid to accentuate the relief process for the COVID-19 pandemic, the Italian Red Cross society is ramping up its modes of accepting payment, with the latest development introducing support for the premier cryptocurrency – Bitcoin. This was made possible courtesy of the blockchain startup Helperbit. For the uninitiated, Helperbit offers a platform to raise money for charitable causes including the COVID-19 mayhem that has taken a firm grip over the planet. (Based on: ) btcmanager.com More news has come from China regarding this same topic: donation tracking. The payment processing platform managed by Alibaba, Alipay, introduced a platform that runs on a blockchain in order to allow donors and charitable organizations to better cooperate in a more transparent manner. (Based on ) blockchainconsultus.io Blockchain in Healthcare A by Carlo R.W. De Meijer (Senior Economist at MIFSA) goes over the current problems with cross-border healthcare data management while scientists all over the world are trying to track and visualize pandemic distribution. good read Two products - HashLog and IBM Food Trust - showed its aptitude for solving data-management and disease-tracking problems. Another real-world product based on blockchain that would help to solve the data-management problem was launched in alliance with WHO, IBM, and Oracle - learn more about it . here Blockchain will, of course, not prevent the emergence of new viruses itself. But what blockchain can do is create the first-line of rapid defense through a network of connected devices whose only purpose is to remain alert about disease outbreaks. The use of blockchain can help prevent pandemics by enabling early detection, fast-tracking drug trials, and positively affect the outbreak and treatment management. As we can see, there are several real applications of blockchain technology that can be utilized in critical times, such as what is going on now. To learn more, I’ve asked several blockchain project founders about what the role of blockchain technology will be after the COVID-19 pandemic passes. Their insights are below. Matthew Niemerg from – A novel DAG protocol that aims to solve known blockchain issues. Alephzero.org We are beginning to recognize the fragility of the healthcare infrastructure in many countries. In the end, people will demand that adequate facilities be built to handle the next pandemic. In addition, many small businesses, and maybe even the large ones, will fail due to the economic challenges they are facing. Some nations have even started to implement short-term lending solutions to help businesses deal with their shortcomings. Such economic relief packages are even being considered by different countries for the general populace via Universal Basic Income (UBI). With proper decentralized identity (DIDs) standards and if the Central Banks decide to implement Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC), blockchain could play a role in facilitating and tracking loans and be the means to issue UBI.  Just in this past week, the United States Department of Homeland Security has stated that "blockchain managers" are essential workers, particularly in the food-supply industries.  This type of statement indicates that governments around the world are starting to recognize that blockchain is now being deployed as critical infrastructure and can become even more useful in crisis scenarios.  I expect government agencies will be increasingly adopting blockchain solutions over the next decade and encouraging development in both the private and public sectors. Zachary Friedman, Founder of and Chief Operating Officer of Secure Digital Markets GDA capital Although it will take time to get back to normal, the post-pandemic world will surely offer a slew of interesting opportunities for entrepreneurs. This black-swan event cast a stark light unto the flaws in our fiscal and monetary policy and as such, the repercussions these policies have today are very detrimental. I believe that the best opportunity lies with Bitcoin in the blockchain sector. Bitcoin, as an asset class that is decentralized and showing sound money properties and operating in a free market, will have the key features that people will start to flock toward and appreciate evermore. It is the mandate of our brokerage securedigitalmarkets.com to help educate investors on the digital asset class and how prospective investments may sit inside a traditional investor’s portfolio in the post-pandemic world. Ivan Bjelajac, CEO of MVP Workshop I believe that one of the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic might be that online prescriptions and delivery, homeschooling, and distributed work could easily become more widely accepted, enabling the people to take more of their lives online. Many companies now have a chance to try remote work, and this could be a nice change for many. When it comes to blockchain’s role in the future , blockchain has valuable use cases in the supply chain, healthcare, education, and many other areas affected by the pandemic, but thinking it could help with a pandemic such as the one we are facing right now is unrealistic, at best. It's only realistic use case regarding this type of situation is probably in the anti fake news segment and verifying the sources of information we are getting. Brian Kerr CEO of - a multi-chain DeFi platform for lending Kava.io The pandemic has sparked big moves in the global currency market and consumer faith in the global financial system is dwindling. As the traditional financial system weakens, the role of Bitcoin, crypto assets, and the emerging DeFi platforms is to provide consumers with credible alternatives to existing financial services. For example, as interest rates go negative, people will struggle to find safe places to store their cash.  This environment makes the USDX stablecoin a very attractive alternative, as it holds the value of USD while still providing users with a 5%+ APY return regardless of what is available at banks or in the bond market. Yoav Dror, CEO of P – A comprehensive crypto-payment solution powered by blockchain technology umaPay The coronavirus outbreak will induce several changes in our daily lives and will prompt every one of us to reconsider our previously common actions. And the same can be said for our relationship with technology. On the recommendation of the World Health Organization, more people are learning to live with social distancing and are practicing this while also trying to tackle their daily tasks, including the management of their everyday finances. In light of this, many are now turning to cashless payments as a way to accommodate these social changes and pay for their goods and services without the exchange of physical cash. However, with the burdens attached to traditional cashless payments, such as high transaction fees, slow settlement times, and increased cybersecurity risks, there will be an increased demand for alternative solutions. And through the power of decentralized blockchain systems, crypto payments may be the answer. We will ultimately see an increase in this payment method as an alternative to physical cash payments, but without the pains that come with the current cashless methods. Blockchain-based payment platforms such as PumaPay’s innovative payment solution are the perfect example of this. Through PumaPay, we provide the best of both blockchain technology with traditional payment cards to bring a flexible alternative in the wake of this recent pandemic. Our numerous billing models can support any business’ current logic and allow customers to pay for their entertainment services or products while staying safely in their home. And through PumaPay’s Mobile Wallet app , users can manage their cryptocurrencies in one place easily and securely. We’ve seen the popularity of blockchain grow in a number of industries in the past year, but with this recent pandemic we will now see new benefits and roles which will propel its popularity to an even wider audience than before.

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Crypto Weekly #3 - How the World Will Change After a Pandemic And Blockchain’s Role in It

Even the most savvy of business owners can't help but be impacted by COVID19. Why? Because their customers are--and that inherently impacts them. Small businesses will bear the majority of the burden as they are the ones most likely to have less financial runway to remain hindered or closed for a month or more at a time. It's scary, it's overwhelming. Large and mid-sized corporations are huddling (in a social distanced capacity) There are lists of resources where , there are companies for a period of time and, of course, the helpers and doers who offer what they can to support others. small businesses can look for relief funding offering goodwill gestures to reduce or eliminate cost Most pressing are the previously brick and mortar businesses who must urgently move to or create and market a full-time online business (if their industry allows). From distinguishing domain names (yes, there are SMBs without a web presence) to learning about PPC, SEO, content marketing, lead generation, PR and more, it's a very overwhelming undertaking. Even the brand goodwill gestures that exist, are mostly one-off tools that are not packaged in one, comprehensive way. Unless you're "in the marketing know," it's tough to know what to use. The Promo.com team launched a designed specifically for businesses who need comprehensive marketing support right now. COVID-19 Support Hub for SMBs The hub is a marketing centrepiece and reduces the amount of research needed for SMBs struggling right now. They are also transforming their to focus exclusively on COVID 19 crisis support for SMBs. (In addition to offering a free Promo Plan for SMBs and a Free Promo Plan for NPOs.) FB group of 5,000 people For those who are unfamiliar or who haven't dedicated a lot of time and energy to digital marketing, there are several areas covered here that range from pre-created social content to weekly meetings that will help SMBs triage the most important needs. Besides marketing, the other urgent need is money. There are larger institutions offering savings or cost reduction of fees for SMBs (and there's a , by Scott Monty). regularly updated list here Ally bank is offering 120 day payment suspensions on all loans, mortgages, bank accounts, and cards Verizon waives late fees for 60 days for customers experiencing hardships because of COVID-19 Airbnb is issuing full refunds and waiving cancellations fees , up to $100 million GrubHub is temporarily suspending commissions from restaurants Uber Eats is waiving delivery fees for ordering from independently owned restaurants Doordash has a similar programs in place Apple Card is allowing customers to skip a monthly payment . Delta is enabling any ticket expiring in March or April to be extended to December 31, 2020 . Toast (restaurant POS and management system) is giving customers one month of credit on software fees and is giving complimentary access to products such as online ordering, takeout and gift cards Toast is also encouraging the public to go to and . rallyforrestaurants.com find a restaurant, buy a gift card, share on social and challenge a friend Postmates has created a pilot program for small businesses in the Bay Area to establish an account, and start delivering without any additional cost If you're tech-savvy or digital marketing knowledgable the most generous thing you can do right now is to offer or volunteer hours to help someone who is left trying to navigate unfamiliar waters. Whether it's through text, chat or a virtual call, the opportunity to give the gift of knowledge may be the difference between some SMBs ultimate success or failure in an urgent time.

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Since Bitcoin launched, thousands of others have been brought into existence. Globally, a market cap of cryptocurrencies within the first three months of 2020 is ranging from around $81 to $195 billion, with BTC price ranging from around $4,100 to $10,457, according to CoinMarketCap. Bitcoin still accounts for around 65% of the total market. Earlier in 2020, Bitcoin, the world’s first and oldest cryptocurrency, turned eleven. Since Bitcoin launched, thousands of others have been brought into existence. Globally, a market cap of cryptocurrencies within the first three months of 2020 is ranging from around $81 to $195 billion, with BTC price ranging from around $4,100 to $10,457, according to CoinMarketCap. Bitcoin still accounts for around 65% of the total market. A whole micro-industry has emerged around cryptocurrencies. More mainstream investors than ever include these as an investment asset class, albeit one considered higher risk than others. With the right strategy, cryptocurrency trading can prove lucrative and one way to boost a portfolio with short and long-term trades. The Future of Cryptocurrency for Investors? As with any new investment asset class, cryptocurrency has experienced ups and downs. Many investors and traders still see it as too high risk. Surely crypto trading needs to be performed with necessary caution and enough level of education in this sphere. Now governments and financial regulators are talking about regulating these currencies more closely; in China, India, Japan, South Korea, and many other countries. In the U.S., the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) started to bring cryptocurrency exchanges up to the same level of scrutiny as money transfer agencies, in 2013. York’s Department of Financial Services took further action to ensure exchanges aren't being used for money laundering and financial fraud. Other moves are potentially afoot to make them more mainstream. There is even speculation that “that crypto will be floated on the Nasdaq, which would further add credibility to blockchain and its uses as an alternative to conventional currencies,” according to Investopedia. Harvard University Professor of Economics and Public Policy Kenneth Rogoff, a crypto advocate, believes that the total “market capitalization of cryptocurrencies could explode over the next five years, rising to $5-10 [trillion].” However, that is only likely if mainstream and institutional investors put more into crypto, which is more likely to happen if a number of factors come into play. Could Crypto Become Mainstream? To answer this question, we need to remember the reason cryptocurrencies were established. People wanted a way of moving money, and even exploring new business opportunities, without excessive regulatory oversight and the guiding. Traditional financial institutions have taken an interest in cryptocurrency. However, it does result in a fundamental flaw, as far as investors and banks are concerned. In 2019 Facebook announced cryptocurrency named Libra, which is planned to be backed by financial assets, and its launch is planned to be in 2020. Facebook considers it will become a global cryptocurrency for many people, especially those in developing countries who have limited access to financial services. Since its announcement, Libra has faced criticism and opposition from central banks, and is facing various legal challenges. The impact of Libra on the cryptocurrency market can be assessed after its final implementation. Traditional investment vehicles, whether stocks and shares, funds, insurance, reinsurance, and dozens of other options, need to go through rigorous compliance procedures. One of the fundamental elements of this is the almost universal Know Your Customer (KYC) rule, as a safeguard against money laundering and financial crime. How can cryptocurrencies have this when the premise is that the owners of any coin or token are meant to be anonymous? In the long-term, this is a surmountable challenge that exchanges and regulators can solve, and will solve, if crypto is to become a mainstream investment asset class. Extra layers of security are needed. And as a form of self-regulation, this is one way to reduce the impact of bad actors and those who would undermine everyone’s financial safety. Another challenge is fragmentation. There are dozens of exchanges on the market. Some are built on more traditional web-based platforms, whereas others are built on Blockchain platforms. Some of them have the same tools and functionality. Some of them work the same way, so if crypto traders figure it out on one platform, they aren't necessarily going to take the time to work out how to use another. With this market fragmentation, it can put crypto traders off. Is there a long, or even short-term, solution? Introducing Cryptocurrency Arbitrage to Crypto Exchange Platforms One solution, that has been floating for a while is the development of a verified exchange traded fund (ETF). An ETF could potentially make it easier for more people to consider cryptocurrency trading, providing the demand was there, and it was promoted the right way. Another solution is to bring together crypto exchanges. Instead of fragmentation, give traders the ability to use arbitrage to benefit from price fluctuations and differences between exchanges. In the same way that traders can between fiat exchanges, or currencies. In crypto, every movement makes a difference, and because prices change rapidly, there are a lot of gains that could be made if crypto traders had the right tools at their disposal. Another way traders benefit on traditional exchanges is the ability, using a range of built-in and third-party apps, to share ideas and collaborate. One way crypto traders can benefit from arbitrage between exchanges, and using multiple exchanges on one platform, is with Torex.One. Torex.One Cryptocurrency Trading Platform Torex.One crypto trading platform has developed a set of crypto trading tools than can make crypto trading easier and informative. More crypto trading tools are planned to be released within 2020. With Torex, crypto traders can benefit from trading on multiple exchanges, using cryptocurrency arbitrage, trading multiple currencies, and benefiting from a diverse range of cryptocurrency trading tools, such as API-trading (with possibility to simultaneously place Stop Loss and Take Profit orders; implement Trailing Stop algorithm), price checker tool, Telegram-based price notification tool, cryptocurrency arbitrage tool (analyzes the liquidity of order books on multiple crypto exchanges and searches for windows), with some more crypto trading tools to be released. crypto arbitrage With the web version of the Torex platform already operational, crypto traders are able to trade across 6 exchanges so far (Binance, Bitfinex, Bittrex, Huobi, KuCoin and Poloniex) with 17 more to come in 2020. By the end of 2020 Torex.One plans to release a fully functional mobile trading app. To date all developed features are available at no cost. You are welcome to create a crypto trading account with . Torex When it comes to getting more retail and institutional investors and traders onboard, with a view that crypto is handled the same as other asset classes, it needs to be as simple as possible. Simplicity and security are important for dealing with cryptoexchanges and cryptocurrencies, which is why one crypto trading platform that engages with as many as possible, with a suite of convenient and easy-to-use trading tools, is the way forward for mainstream investors and traders.

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Crypto Arbitrage Exchanges Could Become the Future of Crypto Trading

I’m going to focus mostly on some design decisions and also how I went about writing an SPI interface using Go on a Raspberry Pi. I assume my readers have a basic understanding of what a Raspberry Pi is, and how basic electronics work. If not, read on anyway and I will be sure to include some valuable resources below. Why Go? In a past life, I worked on hardware interfacing software. The first thing I can certainly tell you is that I hate C. Don’t get me wrong, I understand the appeal of having lightning-fast code. Also, the ability to manipulate memory and low-level functions is useful. I also understand the headache of writing concurrent C code, and anyone familiar with Go knows that this is where it shines. The project that first got me interested in using Go for embedded applications was one where we decided to use a Raspberry Pi Compute Module 3 to interact with ADC (analog to digital converter) components, and collect data using several of these components. I quickly threw together a prototype in Python using the standard , and was satisfied with the initial results. It was apparent however that for a more industrial solution we needed an application that was: Python GPIO library — Able to support more operations per second at lower memory and CPU usage. Faster — We didn’t want anyone to be able to pop out the Compute Module and steal our source code. Compiled — We had a very small team, and none of us were very experienced with firmware so we wanted to abstract up a bit if possible. Maintainable I considered C++ at first. C++ is about as fast as it gets, and is a compiled language. I’m quite comfortable in C++ and have written many applications using it, but we ultimately decided on Go instead for the simple fact the concurrent programming in Go is as easy as it gets. C++ may run a bit faster, but we knew that if we wrote this particular program in Go, it would likely be about half the size (in lines of code) and we were more confident in our ability to keep the code clean and maintainable. It is important to note that the program in question was doing a lot more than just the data collection via SPI interface with an ADC component. There were user inputs, data displays, etc. It was to be a highly concurrent program. What is SPI? SPI stands for serial peripheral interface. I don’t want to get too far off track, but basically it is just a protocol for a master (your program) to communicate with the hardware (like a thermometer or analog to digital converter). If you want to learn more check out the link in the picture’s caption. My Environment Device: Raspberry Pi 3B (We used the compute module for production) IDE: VS Code Remote Editing: Check out this tutorial to edit code on the pi using VS Code remotely Hardware: Breadboard, jumper wires, an ADC that uses an SPI interface OS: Raspbian Implementation First things first, I needed a great GPIO package. For this project, we built the code to be able to use any of the GPIO pins on the Pi. I used Dave Cheney’s library: https://github.com/davecheney/gpio The code below should build and run. Please keep in mind that if you are going to use this code, you will need to change the pin numbers to match the pins you used to connect your GPIOs to your ADC. main ( ) AdcRead {
	Cs          gpio.Pin
	Clock       gpio.Pin
	Miso        gpio.Pin
	NumBits ResultsChan } { reader.Cs.Clear() result i := ; i < reader.NumBits; i++ { reader.Clock.Set() bit := reader.Miso.Get() bit {
			result |= } i != reader.NumBits {
			result <<= } reader.Clock.Clear()
	} reader.Cs.Set() reader.ResultsChan <- result
} { csPinNumber = clockPinNumber = misoPinNumber = csPin, err := gpio.OpenPin(csPinNumber, gpio.ModeOutput) err != {
		fmt.Printf( , err)
	}
	clockPin, err := gpio.OpenPin(clockPinNumber, gpio.ModeOutput) err != {
		fmt.Printf( , err)
	}
	misoPin, err := gpio.OpenPin(misoPinNumber, gpio.ModeInput) err != {
		fmt.Printf( , err)
	}

	resultsChan := ( , )

	adcReader := AdcRead{
		Cs:          csPin,
		Clock:       clockPin,
		Miso:        misoPin,
		NumBits: , ResultsChan: resultsChan,
	} c := time.Tick(time.Duration( ) * time.Millisecond) { c {
			adcReader.Exec()
		}
	}() {
		result := <-resultsChan
		fmt.Println(result)
	}
} package import "fmt" "time" "github.com/davecheney/gpio" // AdcRead represents the data needed to perform a read operation on the ADC component type struct int chan uint32 // Exec reads the current value stored in the ADC register func (reader AdcRead) Exec () // Start the CS Low to begin the read // Initialize an impty uint32 to store the value we are reading var uint32 // Loop over each bit the the component sends back (The number depends varies from // component to component, read the datasheet) for 0 // Set the clock to logic high // Read 1 bit in, if it is high, then add a "1" to our rightmost bit if 0x1 // Shift Left to get to the next bit to be read if -1 1 // The clock will pulse low, then high again to get the next bit // Set chip select low to end the read // Send the result back through the channel to whatever part of our // application cares about it func main () // Open necessary pins. The numbers here are examples, they should be changed based // on which pins you use const 5 const 6 const 7 if nil "Error opening cs pin: %v\n" if nil "Error opening clock pin: %v\n" if nil "Error opening miso pin: %v\n" make chan uint32 1 32 // Our ADC component sends a 32 bit value // Execute each read at 10 Hz 100 go func () for range // Print everything that comes through the results channel for true View repository: https://github.com/lane-c-wagner/spi Thanks For Reading Lane on Twitter: @wagslane Lane on Dev.to: wagslane Download Qvault: https://qvault.io Star our Github: https://github.com/q-vault/qvault

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BitBanged Serial Peripheral Interface in Go on Raspberry Pi [Explained]

, a leading provider of full-stack solutions for data science teams, and , the industry-leading meta machine learning experimentation platform, announced a collaboration with a reference architecture for data science teams looking to harness the power of the Dell EMC infrastructure in tandem with Comet’s meta machine learning platform. Dell EMC Comet With Dell EMC PowerEdge reference architectures, organizations can deploy artificial intelligence workload-optimized rack systems approximately 6-12 months faster than it would have taken to design the correct configurations and deploy the solution. Organizations can now rely on architectures that are tested and validated by our Dell engineers and know that services are available when and where you need them. “Orchestrating and managing the stack for enterprise data science teams is a huge pain point for many of our customers,” said Gideon Mendels, Co-founder/CEO, Comet. “Dell EMC’s Kubeflow and Kubernetes solutions are best-in-class and an excellent choice for any data science team looking to build a robust and scalable ML platform.” Comet is a meta machine learning experimentation platform allowing users to automatically track their metrics, hyperparameters, dependencies, GPU utilization, datasets, models, debugging samples, and more. By leveraging Comet, data science teams produce faster research cycles, and more transparent and collaborative data science. Comet also provides a built-in hyperparameter optimization service, interactive confusion matrices, full code tracking and reproducibility features. Comet on-premise installations can support teams of any size,  from a single machine to distributed microservices. “This is one of those products that makes you question how you functioned without it. Comet gives data science teams all the automation and productivity features they need, but that they never get around to developing themselves,” says Phil Hummel, Senior Principal Engineer and Distinguished Member of Technical Staff, Dell EMC. The Reference architecture utilizes Dell EMC AI-Enabled Kubernetes solution backed by Canonical’s and Kubeflow that complies with all requirements of the AI workload. Charmed Kubernetes The solution includes 100% upstream Kubernetes latest code wrapped into easily consumable packages and supported by Canonical. Dell EMC and Comet’s reference architecture and data science team user story illustrates how our joint solution can provide teams the tools and infrastructure they need to manage their machine learning workflows—data storage, experimentation and model building, and deployment—while providing flexible and robust deployment options as teams scale. To learn more about Dell EMC’s AI-Enabled Kubernetes Cluster options, read more or reach out to Dell EMC directly to . To learn more about Comet’s meta-machine learning platform, read more about Comet or contact Comet’s for more information or to schedule a demo. here schedule a call here customer solutions team Read the that covers (a) using Comet with Dell EMC AI-enabled infrastructure and (b) technical installation instructions. full whitepaper here

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Machine Learning Platform Collaboration Between Dell EMC and Comet [Partnership Announcement]

Every time we let individuals decide what we should all be doing collectively, historical moments emerge and they can't be erased from our memory. In recent history, the death of one man resulted in the deaths of millions in 1914. It was the year 1958. A man named Mao Zedong walked by a grain field and saw a bunch of sparrows eating the food that belonged to the Chinese people. His first thought was very rational as he questioned their privilege and right to free food. Without much thinking, he did what every great leader would do - . he ordered the culling of these parasites that wanted something for nothing The people will not provide free food for these monsters. They shall be beaten to death! This event is known today as . It has resulted in 45 million deaths country-wide. Due to the lack of sparrows, insects swarmed the fields, devastated their agriculture and forced the whole nation to consider cannibalism as a last resort. Many have died, but communism prevailed. The Four Pests Campaign Do you ever question the nature of your reality? History Loves To Repeat Itself Every time we let individuals decide what we should all be doing collectively, historical moments emerge and they can't be erased from our memory. In recent history, the death of one man resulted in the deaths of millions in 1914. And like we didn't learn anything from that, another man wanted to assert dominance globally some 30 years later and millions blindly followed. One would think that the two wars are enough for a civilization to realize that there is no difference between them. We all serve a purpose and we all have to be here. Just like those poor sparrows. Those people that died and those birds that were clubbed to death did nothing wrong. They were both victims of lies and they should have served as a lesson to us all. Sadly, individuals with good hearths tend to be easily manipulated. It is a blessing and a curse. As more people started seeing through the lies they started giving up on their governments. The lack of interest created more room for manipulation so even more wars were waged in the name of freedom and democracy. Driven by our past mistakes and armed with the knowledge that history provides, we continued to spread the word of freedom throughout the world. Those who resisted it served as . Once rural Europe was freed from communism and nazis, normal life was restored and the economic growth of the whole planet could continue as planed. dumpsters for nuclear waste The bubble we lived in popped in 2008 but yet again, we chose to ignore it because we could just create a bigger bubble and move on. Unfortunately, that bubble became bigger than all of us and killing sparrows isn't going to stop it. The Allocation Of Funds This new bubble is so big that we had to spread it worldwide. All economies had to work together and find the best way to push humanity into globalism. We learned from our past mistakes, stopped waging wars and started putting money into the things we need the most - nuclear weapons, defense systems, and military. We have enough firepower to blow up the whole planet but we don't have the medical equipment to keep people alive and kill a virus that is so small we can't even see it. We prepared for a war no one wanted to wage, while nature(?) had different plans. How Did We Get Here? It was the year 2019 and a few Chinese doctors tried to warn the world about a potential pandemic that is spreading at their doorstep. Their stupidity was and the world was reassured that this is a false alarm. The virus they are mentioning is a lie. After all, we survived the bird and swine flu, why would this thing be any different? I am sure we all know where the story headed from there. promptly punished What COVID-19 uncovered wasn't the censorship that is still present in the 21st century. It was our inability to handle a global pandemic. We had the money for rockets and warships but somehow, we didn't have enough money for medical care and ventilators that are needed in cases like this one. Lock downs are now put in place, people are forced to stay in their homes and a new world is preparing to emerge once the shitshow is over. Humanity 2.0 All of the events mentioned above polarized our civilization in one way or another. Leadership became a norm that pulled people towards the leaders or repelled them further away. These imaginary differences in our society created conflict within it, while at the same time creating more room for propaganda and even stronger polarization. Propaganda, as we all know, is based on lies most of the time. But, inaccurate information distributed via sensationalistic publishers isn't a sustainable model. Once maximum polarization is achieved an individual is left with two choices - stay with the pack and defend your chosen leader/party at all costs or look for additional information for fact-checking. The second option is becoming more popular and people all around the globe are realizing that there aren't only two sides of a story. You don't have to choose between left and right. There is a third option that has a name and that name is common sense. While you sit home and try to pass time with entertainment, you will start to notice patterns, keywords, and misinformation all around you. Your TV is spitting it out faster than you can process it. You will realize that questions are answered with a key phrase, "yeah, but what about those guys" and in time you will understand that this is something that was used before. Something history but you didn't have time to listen. tried to warn you about Do you know how the best magicians in the world make you think that magic is possible in a material world? They make you look in the wrong direction while they adjust the act for your amusement. Right now, the magicians want you to look at the word . They want you to think about it and talk about it while they work the numbers on unemployment rates and money printing machines. Once the tick reaches a culmination point they will have to drop the hard facts on you. COVID-19 Our economy is gone and the trick failed. The capitalism bubble and the pile of lies peaked in 2020, a year that will change humanity forever. Sit down and think about it for a moment. All sports events are canceled. We are only now learning that the NBA and the Champions League aren't really that important. Those millions of euros and dollars could have been spent on medical equipment and salaries for medical workers. We thought our kids that shooting a ball through a hoop is a measurement of value rather than teaching them the value of human life. It is sad that they will have to learn that lesson on their own. Think About The Kids The world you were born into was a lie. We don't have everything under control and we never did. Whatever happens after this pandemic doesn't matter. What matters is what we leave behind for the generations that are coming. They did not choose to be born into a world of chaos and lies, we are forcing them to come here. This is a time where we have to stop thinking as individuals. Even if we all end up living in a dystopian world where money has no value we still have an obligation to teach those kids everything we know. Our opinions don't matter, our religions don't matter and our feelings can fuck off. What matters is facts, and the sooner we drop them on the younger generations, the sooner they will know how to fix this shithole that we created. Stop distracting them with fairy tales. and it will probably stay that way for years to come. Maybe, one day, they will find a way to stop history from repeating itself. Nothing is OK If that day comes, I am sure it won't be an individual effort. We either all work together, or we continue to suffer from mistakes made by uninformed and ignorant individuals. The people of any nation, race or color are not to blame. Self-proclaimed world leaders are to blame.

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Just a few days ago we open-sourced the React components we use to build the . bit.dev platform A quick look will show you that we actually opened-sourced not 1 GitHub library, but 2 different codebases. In fact, independent components with different versions are mixed from both codebases to create every page. The first codebase is - a generic set of infrastructure-UI React components used across the bit.dev website. base-ui The second codebase is - the concrete React component design system we use to build the bit.dev marketing website. Evangelist Separating these components into two different front-end codebases (or " " if you will) is part of how we manage reusable React components in a scalable and collaborative way - to speed our development and ensure a consistent UI across apps and screens. component micro-frontends In this post I'll show you how we manage our reusable components in React, from development to integration in our applications. I'll show you everything from A-Z: 1. Different component codebases. 2. Exposing components for reuse and integration. 3. Composing pages applications. 4. Collaboration and updates. Let's get to it. 1. Different component codebases We build our components in different codebases according to the different scopes and teams they belong to. For example, the concrete marketing components (pages, sections, content) is maintained in a different codebase than the infra-ui components (layout, atoms, themes). Is this considered ? Depends on . What I can tell you is that we are able (thanks to which I'll show you in a sec) to build and maintain these sets of components in decoupled codebases and expose components to use elsewhere, which is similar to micro-services. micro-frontends who you ask Bit Take a look at the where we build some basic UI components in React like Card, Image etc. This codebase is much simpler than that of an entire application, making it easy to develop. base-ui repository on GitHub And then there's also the where we build  concrete components (sections, content)  to use in our marketing pages. " " GitHub repository Evangelist This kind of flexibility also provides us with the freedom to , so that different teams can own different sets of components, regardless to where they are used - in which page or application. split team ownership For example, if you are building an "Airbnb" application, it makes more sense for the "hotels" team to maintain their concrete card-carousels than to demand on a single infra-team for 100% of the components they need. 2. Exposing components for reuse and integration. Next, we use - a tool of our own making now used by thousands of people -  to . This container is called a Bit "Capsule" and it contains everything the component needs to be used elsewhere: all files, dependancies, build configurations etc. Bit automates this process for you. Bit place each component in a front-end "Container" Bit and lets you export a bunch of components to - the component hub we created for teamwork. It's 100% free for open-source and for some private code too. applies a standalone version to each component Bit.dev For example here are the components exported to Bit.dev: Evangelist https://bit.dev/bit/evangelist And here are the base-ui components exported to bit.dev: https://bit.dev/bit/base Now we have to sets of components on bit.dev (called "collections"), one for the marketing components and one for the base-ui components. Each collection is a group of independent components which are standalone versioned, can can be integrated into any new codebase. There are two ways to integrate a component: 1. Install it as a package from the bit.dev registry using npm/yarn. 2. Use `bit import` to source the component into a new codebase and make local code edits. It's managed by Bit so you keep getting updates. Note that bit.dev also run CI for every component version, and since it "knows" about the dependents of each component, it lets you make sure every change you make doesn't break other components elsewhere. You can see each component's version build and test results in its page. It also auto-extracts the docs from react components (TS/JS) using react docgen,  to help document each component. And finally, it provides each component with a live playground to try it out and save visual examples. So now basically you have 2 codebases with 2 different sets of exposed components, each maintained by a different team- while everyone can easily find and use these components in their own pages and applications. 3. Compose pages and applications So now let's say you have a 3rd project which is an application you build for your users. You can have more projects and it will work the same way, since everything is now 100% reusable as well. All you have to do is choose a component and integrate it into your application. As we mentioned above, there are two ways of doing that. Well in fact three, as one and two can be combined together (recommended). 1. You can rely on a regular package-based build-time integration by installing independent components from your bit.dev collections. $ npm i @bit/bit.evangelist.atom.eva-button yarn add @bit/bit.evangelist.atom.eva-button # or 2. You can use `bit import` to source any component's source-code into the consuming application to make local edits. This is very useful for a quick integration that required modifications. As the component is still managed by Bit, you keep getting updates on top of local changes. bit import bit.evangelist/atom/eva-button 3. Combine the two methods: install components at packages, and when you need a change use `bit import` to quickly get the source-code and make changes right from your application. Then eject and move the component back to begin a package dependency of the application. One such example is actually the ! If you head there you will see that it contains components from both and , all Cool, right? bit.dev homepage Evangelist base-ui, with different versions mixed in one page (!). : your application is now built in a few separate component-codebases, all your components are exposed and made reusable in the cloud, and you can compose and integrate them to build front-end apps. The result 4. Collaboration and updates Ok so finally, here's one more cool aspect of the way we work. Most teams build a giant monolithic single-versioned component library. We prefer to build with independent components. It's much better to be able to mix&match component versions, get focused relevant updates only to the components you actually use, and make it easy to hotfix/rollback. You can learn more about this best practice here: The Case for Versioning Independent UI Components Anyways, since we expose and reuse independent components, we can update specific parts of our UIs and easily control the changes across multiple projects and applications. For example, when a new version for component will be available, all the pages and applications that use it can get an update to that component, without having to bump versions for any other components. Evangelist's "eva-button" Any even better, if a developer needs to make some quick changes to the component to fit it into a new app, it can then just use `bit import` to make the changes right from the new project- and even share them back to bit.dev as a new version of the component for future reference. This makes it much easier not only to adopt and integrate components, but also to make sure every page in every application is always up to date. * There's that shows this workflow where you get and deliver updates to a component from two different codebases. a short 5 min video demo Conclusion - sum up Building front-end applications from components maintained in decoupled codebases helps us scale front-end development. It also helps us split ownership of components between developers and product teams. We use advanced tooling like to expose and integrate components from one codebase to another with the power to balance the advantages of with the ability to scale to many components. Bit independent components Having all our components shared in one central hub lets our entire dev team collaborate on components, get updates and stay in sync. It also makes it easier to save time on component documentation. I hope this is interesting for you to read and maybe it can be useful - all or some of it- in your own work. A good place to begin is just to export some components from your app or library to bit.dev and gradually build your reusable component collection. You can split codebases later, or not. Enjoy and thanks for reading! Jonathan

I write code and words. Learn about Bit: github.com/teambit/bit

How to Manage Reusable UI Components

Seems like everything has been written about effective one-on-one meetings. There are classes available, workshops suggesting ultimate know-hows, and experts offering their services to corporate and HR managers. I have personally been through a couple of such workshops at two different companies which lasted several hours each. Several hours… too much. That’s because when removing aside the long lists of tips and principles it eventually comes down to doing two things when you want a one-on-one meeting to be great: Be yourself, and apply the following four guidelines. 1. Set the scene. Keep it informal. The first thing you want to do is set the scene and keep it informal. Like when you go to play and the atmosphere is very much driven by the way the stage is set. In our case if you are having the meeting in an office, then never sit behind a desk. Have the space between you and the person you are having the conversation with open, and barrier less. Moreover, try for the meetings not to occur only at your office, it reflects too much on hierarchy and brings the unwanted formality into the meeting. Have some of the meetings at the other participant’s office, some in a neutral area, and sometimes at a nearby café if you have one close. The point is, change the scene and always keep it as informal as you can. The one-on-one meeting between an employee and a manager, belongs to the employee. 2. Start personal. Insist on it. A one-on-one meeting should always start with ‘how are you these days’. With ‘how is your family these days’. Or with ‘How was your weekend’. Endless ways to start, but only once guideline that bundles them together, start personal. There should not be any exceptions, like lack of time so ‘let’s get right to the agenda’. These meetings between yourselves and people you lead or manage are meant for getting out of the daily routine items and reflecting on each other’s feelings and thoughts that have lately surfaced. 3. Employee goes first. It’s their meeting. To be very clear and remove any confusion or redundant debate: The one-on-one meeting between an employee and a manager, belongs to the employee. This gets meaning in the agenda which should cover the employee items with a higher priority, it gets meaning with considering the employee availability with the same attention as the higher ranks, and it gets meaning with allowing the employee to start, always. ‘What’s on your mind’ can be a good starting hint to allow that to occur. And ‘What did you want to talk about today’ can be another. 4. Avoid canceling. “something came up” is not an excuse. I know well how real life looks like. You came into the office today after traffic jams from hell, all stressed up with back to back meetings not even allowing you to get lunch today, your bosses boss asked you for an urgent report about the recent outage from the weekend, you cannot go home late today because you promised your significant other they’ll go to gym class today while you watch the kids, and you have a one-on-one with your employee. Now quiz question, which is the easiest to cancel? As much as the answer is obvious, it is not. Your employees cannot be at the bottom of your priority list as much as the short term impact from canceling your meeting with them seems lowest. In the long term, everyone will appreciate your priority and commitment to your employees.

www.amirelkabir.com

The Only 4 Things You Need To Know For Great One-on-Ones

Few institutions were prepared for the sudden shift to remote teaching prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the response has been a real mixed bag. We have seen many institutions embrace this new reality, meeting the challenge head-on by training and supporting educators. But we’re also seeing scrambled and knee-jerk attempts at replicating the traditional classroom experience, which will no doubt affect attitudes towards remote learning. As the CEO of edtech company , my focus for the last 11 years has been to support higher education institutions in evolving teaching strategies and adopting technologies that prepare students for a rapidly changing world. Top Hat But this is a moment in history when pure necessity is the driving force of change. Faculty and students are experiencing a lot of anxiety and stress during this crisis, largely connected to their forced adoption of new technologies in a very short period of time. What impact will COVID-19 have on higher education beyond the next few months? Here, I discuss some potential long-term effects. Higher Education’s Business Model There is a general recognition that higher education has been on the verge of a structural crisis for some time, due to the . In fact, the latest figures show that student loan debt in the U.S. has surpassed $1.5 trillion. The sheer cost of higher education has created a burden that many people continue to bear even as they move into retirement. rising cost of tuition and ballooning student debt Many instructors are that drops in international enrollment and state funding will force institutions to reconsider their business models. Remote teaching is an opportunity for colleges to scale up programs and scale down costs. If this pandemic persists, or comes and goes in waves, we may see higher education institutions alternating between blended learning models (instead of purely face-to-face in-class instruction) and fully online teaching. forecasting Student Impact We’ve known for some time that students thrive when they actively participate in the learning process. Traditional sage-on-the-stage lectures and static print textbooks don’t enable the level of interactivity required for effective learning. And now that classes have moved online, it has become even more critical to help students derive value from courses delivered remotely. This could mean organizing synchronous lectures, class meetings, and discussions for real-time engagement, and then extending that engagement through assigning interactive, immersive reading materials, media, and assessment questions. Another challenge with teaching remotely is that it can be difficult for educators to determine how well students are understanding the material, identify students who are struggling, and see which topics need reinforcement. And as we’ve seen with Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) that run purely online like Coursera, leaving students in the driver’s seat 100% of the time will guarantee . As institutions begin thinking ahead to plan for a future that may require a portion of their curriculum to move online, they will need to consider course designs with student accountability in mind. For example, they can deliver content in a way that allows for regular check-ins, like assigning readings that are interspersed with questions, videos, and quizzes, to drive student engagement and improve learning and retention. low course completion rates Emergency Response After the COVID-19 crisis subsides, every institution will have to think about their remote teaching strategy across all courses. Colleges and universities will need to invest in technologies that are able to withstand a variety of crisis situations, whether they are natural disasters, pandemics, or economic downturns. The institutions that will come out strongest are those that can cultivate flexible environments for learning online. Right now, students aren’t expecting perfection and educators are doing their best to minimize disruption to education. We don’t know what the new normal will look like, but we can be pretty sure that many faculty members will no longer be able to limit their training to onsite lectures. I expect many educators will have a new sense of understanding and desire to adopt these recently acquired remote teaching techniques to enhance their instruction. There are countless ways technology can help us connect with students at all times, not just in an emergency. Many edtech providers have stepped up to offer their services for free during this crisis and I fully expect that they will continue to find innovative ways to help institutions prepare for the future. Here at Top Hat, we’re making our . Educators are using our interactive digital content and tools to facilitate effective remote learning for synchronous (real-time) class meetings, asynchronous (recorded or self-paced) learning, and secure proctored tests and exams in a remote setting. And we’re going to continue to explore ways that we can support educators and institutions no matter what the future is going to look like. entire active learning platform free for the rest of the semester 2020 and Beyond The way educators and institutions look at technology has profoundly changed. Some learning scientists like , Harvard University Extension School professor, believe online teaching will shape the future of education. “If it’s a high-quality online experience, online teaching is better than anything,” she says. “Currently, around 60 percent of people still think that online and face-to-face learning are equal. But the best learning, according to university students, is blended—when you have a little bit of face-to-face and a little bit of online.” Tracey Noel Tokuhama-Espinosa I believe a best-of-both-worlds approach provides students with new opportunities for learning and empowers educators with new methods to teach, ultimately ensuring students benefit from a more effective learning experience. If there’s anything that emerges as the new normal in higher education, it may be that educators will hold onto these learnings and commit to exploring new ways to connect with their students beyond the classroom. Ultimately, doing so will help them become better instructors in the future, no matter what that new reality is. Mike Silagadze                                                                                              Founder & CEO, Top Hat

Waves

The Verge

How COVID-19 May Forever Change the Way Professors Teach

As a , I built micro tools to solve my own problems. For example: , and product builder↗️ article tool portfolio tracker , SaaS tracker , habit tracker , finance tracker I’m a fan of spreadsheets when it comes to prototyping. Today, I’ll share how I built this mobile app without code with an app template you can use. This article is part of my ↗️ where I share resources about building things. Join me :) Note: toolkit newsletters How to build a mobile app using Google Sheet & Glide 1. Ideation stage 💡 Let’s name this app — . A mobile app for virtual event organizers to manage event info, details, ticket sales, FAQ & customer support. RemoteConfy Users can view event schedules, purchase online tickets and email the organizer. To begin, I list down the parts I want to build: Overview of event info & details Ticket type, pricing & payment Speakers lineup, profile photo & bio Event schedule, session time and topic List of FAQs Contact customer support 2. Getting started ⚒️ Go to and create a free account. Then, go to and create a new file . Once you log in and authenticate both accounts: Glide Google Sheet “virtual event database” Create a new app in Glide from Google Sheet Select the new spreadsheet file ( ) copy & use this barebone sample You’ll see the app UI with the output data linked with the spreadsheet 3. Configure your spreadsheet 📊 Glide app will turn your spreadsheet and output the data on mobile UI. In other words, you’ll need to create & update the spreadsheet to populate these data to configure your app. If you don’t want to start from scratch, you can copy my . spreadsheet Create new sheets in the same file. Each sheet contains a database (in bracket) we need for the event app: About (featured image, event title, description, links) Speaker (name, company, photo, bio, session topic) Partner (company name, logo) Schedule (session time, topic, speaker name) Tickets (tickets type, price, details, checkout) FAQ (list of questions and answers) Input FAQ (user full name, email & question) 👉 Try the app template (on mobile/web) here 4. Create app pages📱 We’ll need to create 4 separate app pages: About, Schedule, Speaker and FAQ. Each page will link to the relevant sheets & data we created in Step 3. Make sure you refresh the database “Reload sheet” in Glide. This will re-sync Glide output with the spreadsheet data you’ve updated. Add new tabs in Glide Go to “Tabs” on the left sidebar in Glide Add a new tab (or rename), i.e. “About” Point the data “Source” to the “About” sheet Repeat the above steps for other Tabs (i.e. Schedule, Speaker, FAQ). You’ll need to make sure each Tab points to the right data source in the spreadsheet. For example: 5. Display event details 📆 Let’s build the “About” page. You can include cover image, event title, description, and buttons. Start by clicking “Layout” on the left sidebar in Glide. Style the screen layout using “Details” mode, then: Add new “Components +” E.g.: Image, Title, Basic Text, Button, Separator, Title, Rich Text (and other elements you see fit) Each component represents a design block that’s linked with data from “About” sheet Format each “Component” Let’s format the main event title & description Add a “Title” component from “+” Point the data source to a sheet column (“event_title_title” “event_title_sub”) Partially list out speakers and let users click “Show all” in a separate list: Add an “Inline List” component on About page Point the data source to a sheet (“Speaker”) Pull out other Speaker data (name, company, photo) 6. Purchase event tickets 🎟 Continue on the “About” page. Now we want to create a ticket purchase button that links to different ticket orders (General vs. Expert Admission). Here’re the logical steps and app views when a user clicks on “ticket” button: Sees 2 types of tickets (Select Tickets view) Clicks on the 1st ticket option (General Admission view) Sees a “Purchase ticket” button (General Admission view) Sees an external payment page (ticket checkout) Add ticket button Add a “Button” component on About page Edit the button “Features”, select “Action” (“Link to screen”) Point the data source to a sheet (“Tickets”) Show 2 types of the ticket where users can choose from and expand for tickets info & pricing. Style the screen layout using “List” mode Pull out all data source related to tickets info (type, price, details) Link ticket purchase button using Gumroad as checkout. Make sure you’ve set up Gumroad with General & Expert tickets. On “General Admission” app view, add a “Button” component from “+” Edit the button “Features”, select “Action” (“Open link”) Point the “Target” to “tickets checkout” that contains Gumroad link You can also use Glide’s built-in checkout, Stripe or PayPal as an alternative. 👉 Try the app template (on mobile/web) here 7. Event schedule ⏰ The schedule page will list out the event agenda and topics. To build the Schedule view, point the data source to the “Schedule” sheet. Here’s how to customize the mobile UI on Glide: Configure the “Schedule” tab Style the screen layout using “List” mode Pull out data you want to display (topic, time) Each session will show presentation title, time and speaker. Add these components: “Title” component to include topic title, time and image cover “Rich Text” component and name “SPEAKER” “List Relation” component to link existing speakers database (this won’t work until we do the next step) “List Relation” to link both Session topics <> Speakers’ topics database Each session topic corresponds to a speaker who is presenting the topic. You can create a Speakers database (name, bio, topic, headshot) and re-use this database in the Schedule database. Go to “Data” icon on the left sidebar in Glide Go to the “Schedule” tab in the database Add Column+ from the top right corner, edit below settings 👉 Try the app template (on mobile/web) here 8. Email customer support 💁‍♂️ This section can include frequently asked questions such as ticket purchase, refund and so on. To build this page, you can point the data source to the “FAQ” sheet and style the display accordingly. Users may want to ask additional questions that are not included in the FAQ. Therefore, we can create a contact form for this purpose. Add a “Form Button” component on FAQ page Edit the button “Features”, select “Action” (“Show form”) Point the form button to a data source “Input: FAQ” Create 3 form fields (full name, email & question) Every time a user submits their questions, the input data will automatically update in this spreadsheet “Input: FAQ”. For example: 👉 Try the app template (on mobile/web) here Find me on Personal Site / Twitter / LinkedIn 🔥 In case you miss out, I can send my upcoming toolkit to your inbox — Click here to join my newsletter 💌 If you’re feeling generous today, you can buy me a coffee ☕ Previously published at https://whizzoe.com/blog/build-a-mobile-app-nocode-using-google-sheet-glide-in-3-hours/

Stripe

Built 11 MVP, no funding. Apps on Product Hunt #1 & Lifehacker. Product consulting US/APAC cos. 👋About: whizzoe.com

HackerNoon Tech Stories Archive March 31st, 2020

Do You Know How to Fail Fast With Your Next Idea?

@chimpideas
Vytautas Sabaliauskas

The Mistake of Designing an App that is Output Driven, Not Outcome Driven

@UXRaj
Raj Adhav

HTTP or IMAP: How To Prevent Headers From Getting Complicated

@Ousret
Ahmed TAHRI

How to Clear the 301/302 Redirection Cache

@epranka
Edvinas Pranka

How To Make A Chatbot From Scratch

@AmyraSheldon
Amyra Sheldon

4 Ways You Are Probably Doing Product Analytics Wrong

@Uggernaut
Pallavi Modi

Displacement of Low-Income Minorities in San Francisco

@sahiba-chopra
Sahiba Chopra

How Quantum Computers Will Evolve

@yonatan-cohen
Dr. Yonatan Cohen

How The Crisis Will Affect Financial And Cryptocurrency Markets

@anti-danilevsky
Anti Danilevski

Crypto Weekly #3 - How the World Will Change After a Pandemic And Blockchain’s Role in It

@noprofile
noprofile

A Support Hub and Resources for Digital Marketing Support to SMBs during COVID-19

@sarahevans
sarahevans

Crypto Arbitrage Exchanges Could Become the Future of Crypto Trading

@Torex
Torex.One

BitBanged Serial Peripheral Interface in Go on Raspberry Pi [Explained]

@wagslane
Lane Wagner

Machine Learning Platform Collaboration Between Dell EMC and Comet [Partnership Announcement]

@comet.ml
Comet

COVID-19, Humanity 2.0, and The New Normal

@ptbarnum
Barnum_PT

How to Manage Reusable UI Components

@ysaring
Jonathan Saring

The Only 4 Things You Need To Know For Great One-on-Ones

@amir-elkabir
Amir Elkabir

How COVID-19 May Forever Change the Way Professors Teach

@top-hat
Mike Silagadze

Using a Spreadsheet to Build a Mobile App (in 3 hours)

@whizzoe
Zoe Chew

HackerNoon Tech Stories Archive March 31st, 2020

@chimpideasVytautas Sabaliauskas

@UXRajRaj Adhav

@OusretAhmed TAHRI

@eprankaEdvinas Pranka

@AmyraSheldonAmyra Sheldon

@UggernautPallavi Modi

@sahiba-chopraSahiba Chopra

@yonatan-cohenDr. Yonatan Cohen

@anti-danilevskyAnti Danilevski

@noprofilenoprofile

@sarahevanssarahevans

@TorexTorex.One

@wagslaneLane Wagner

@comet.mlComet

@ptbarnumBarnum_PT

@ysaringJonathan Saring

@amir-elkabirAmir Elkabir

@top-hatMike Silagadze

@whizzoeZoe Chew